xfsrestore(8) - man - phpman

Look up a command

 

Markdown Format | JSON API | MCP Server Tool


xfsrestore(8)
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION
-a housekeeping -b blocksize -c progname -e Prevents xfsrestore from overwriting existing files in the dest directory. -f source [ -f source ... ] -i Selects interactive operation. Once the on-media directory hierarchy has been read, an -m Use the minimal tape protocol. This option cannot be used without specifying a block‐ -n file -o Restore file and directory owner/group even if not root. When run with an effective -p interval -q Source tape drive is a QIC tape. QIC tapes only use a 512 byte blocksize, for which xf‐ -r Selects the cumulative mode of operation. The -a and destination options must be the -s subtree -t Displays the contents of the dump, but does not create or modify any files or directo‐ -v verbosity -v subsys=verbosity[,subsys=verbosity,...] -A Do not restore extended file attributes. When restoring a filesystem managed within a -B Change the ownership and permissions of the destination directory to match those of the -D Restore DMAPI (Data Management Application Programming Interface) event settings. If the -E Prevents xfsrestore from overwriting newer versions of files. The inode modification -F Inhibit interactive operator prompts. This option inhibits xfsrestore from prompting -I Causes the xfsdump inventory to be displayed (no restore is performed). Each time xfs‐ -J Inhibits inventory update when on-media session inventory encountered during restore. -K Force xfsrestore to use dump format 2 generation numbers. Normally the need for this is -L session_label -O options_file -Q Force completion of an interrupted restore session. This option is required to work -R Resume a previously interrupted restore. xfsrestore can be interrupted at any time by -S session_id -T Inhibits interactive dialogue timeouts. xfsrestore prompts the operator for media -X subtree -Y io_ring_length
NOTES EXAMPLES FILES SEE ALSO DIAGNOSTICS BUGS
xfsrestore(8)                          System Manager's Manual                         xfsrestore(8)



NAME
       xfsrestore - XFS filesystem incremental restore utility

SYNOPSIS
       xfsrestore -h
       xfsrestore [ options ] -f source [ -f source ... ] dest
       xfsrestore [ options ] - dest
       xfsrestore -I [ subopt=value ... ]

DESCRIPTION
       xfsrestore  restores  filesystems  from dumps produced by xfsdump(8).  Two modes of operation
       are available: simple and cumulative.

       The default is simple mode.  xfsrestore populates the specified destination directory,  dest,
       with the files contained in the dump media.

       The  -r  option specifies the cumulative mode.  Successive invocations of xfsrestore are used
       to apply a chronologically ordered sequence of delta dumps to a base  (level  0)  dump.   The
       contents  of  the  filesystem at the time each dump was produced is reproduced.  This can in‐
       volve adding, deleting, renaming, linking, and unlinking files and directories.

       A delta dump is defined as either an incremental dump (xfsdump -l option with level > 0) or a
       resumed  dump  (xfsdump  -R  option).  The deltas must be applied in the order they were pro‐
       duced.  Each delta applied must have been produced with the previously applied delta  as  its
       base.

       xfsrestore keeps state information in the xfsrestorehousekeepingdir, to inform subsequent in‐
       vocations when used in cumulative mode, or in the event a restore is interrupted.  To  ensure
       that  the state information can be processed, a compatible version of xfsrestore must be used
       for each subsequent invocation. Additionally, each invocation must run on  a  system  of  the
       same endianness and page size.

       The options to xfsrestore are:

       -a housekeeping
            Each  invocation  of  xfsrestore  creates  a directory called xfsrestorehousekeepingdir.
            This directory is normally created directly under the dest directory.  The -a option al‐
            lows  the  operator to specify an alternate directory, housekeeping, in which xfsrestore
            creates the xfsrestorehousekeepingdir directory.  When performing a cumulative  (-r  op‐
            tion) restore or resuming (-R option) a restore, each successive invocation must specify
            the same alternate directory.

       -b blocksize
            Specifies the blocksize, in bytes, to be used for the restore.  For other drives such as
            DAT or 8 mm , the same blocksize used for the xfsdump operation must be specified to re‐
            store the tape.  The default block size is 1Mb.

       -c progname
            Use the specified program to alert the operator when a media  change  is  required.  The
            alert  program is typically a script to send a mail or flash a window to draw the opera‐
            tor's attention.

       -e   Prevents xfsrestore from overwriting existing files in the dest directory.

       -f source [ -f source ... ]
            Specifies a source of the dump to be restored.  This can be the  pathname  of  a  device
            (such as a tape drive), a regular file or a remote tape drive (see rmt(8)).  This option
            must be omitted if the standard input option (a lone - preceding the dest specification)
            is specified.

       -i   Selects  interactive operation.  Once the on-media directory hierarchy has been read, an
            interactive dialogue is begun.  The operator uses a small set of commands to peruse  the
            directory  hierarchy,  selecting  files and subtrees for extraction.  The available com‐
            mands are given below.  Initially nothing is selected, except for those subtrees  speci‐
            fied with -s command line options.

            ls [arg]       List  the entries in the current directory or the specified directory, or
                           the specified non-directory file entry.  Both the entry's original  inode
                           number and name are displayed.  Entries that are directories are appended
                           with a `/'.  Entries that have been selected for extraction are prepended
                           with a `*'.

            cd [arg]       Change the current working directory to the specified argument, or to the
                           filesystem root directory if no argument is specified.

            pwd            Print the pathname of the current directory, relative to  the  filesystem
                           root.

            add [arg]      The  current  directory or specified file or directory within the current
                           directory is selected for extraction.  If a directory is specified,  then
                           it  and  all its descendents are selected.  Entries that are selected for
                           extraction are prepended with a `*' when they are listed by ls.

            delete [arg]   The current directory or specified file or directory within  the  current
                           directory  is  deselected  for  extraction.  If a directory is specified,
                           then it and all its descendents are deselected.  The most  expedient  way
                           to  extract most of the files from a directory is to select the directory
                           and then deselect those files that are not needed.

            extract        Ends the interactive dialogue, and causes all selected subtrees to be re‐
                           stored.

            quit           xfsrestore  ends  the interactive dialogue and immediately exits, even if
                           there are files or subtrees selected for extraction.

            help           List a summary of the available commands.

       -m   Use the minimal tape protocol.  This option cannot be used without specifying  a  block‐
            size to be used (see -b option above).

       -n file
            Allows  xfsrestore to restore only files newer than file.  The modification time of file
            (i.e., as displayed with the ls -l command) is compared to the inode  modification  time
            of  each  file on the source media (i.e., as displayed with the ls -lc command).  A file
            is restored from media only if its inode modification time is greater than or  equal  to
            the modification time of file.

       -o   Restore  file  and  directory  owner/group even if not root.  When run with an effective
            user id of root, xfsrestore restores owner and group of each file and  directory.   When
            run with any other effective user id it does not, unless this option is specified.

       -p interval
            Causes  progress  reports  to be printed at intervals of interval seconds.  The interval
            value is approximate, xfsrestore will delay progress reports to avoid  undue  processing
            overhead.

       -q   Source tape drive is a QIC tape.  QIC tapes only use a 512 byte blocksize, for which xfsrestore must make special allowances.

       -r   Selects the cumulative mode of operation. The -a and destination  options  must  be  the
            same for each invocation.

       -s subtree
            Specifies  a  subtree to restore.  Any number of -s options are allowed.  The restore is
            constrained to the union of all subtrees specified.  Each  subtree  is  specified  as  a
            pathname  relative  to the restore dest.  If a directory is specified, the directory and
            all files beneath that directory are restored.

       -t   Displays the contents of the dump, but does not create or modify any files  or  directo‐
            ries.  It may be desirable to set the verbosity level to silent when using this option.

       -v verbosity
       -v subsys=verbosity[,subsys=verbosity,...]
            Specifies  the  level of detail used for messages displayed during the course of the re‐
            store. The verbosity argument can be passed as either a string or an integer. If  passed
            as  a  string the following values may be used: silent, verbose, trace, debug, or nitty.
            If passed as an integer, values from 0-5 may be used. The values 0-4 correspond  to  the
            strings  already listed. The value 5 can be used to produce even more verbose debug out‐
            put.

            The first form of this option activates message logging across all  restore  subsystems.
            The second form allows the message logging level to be controlled on a per-subsystem ba‐
            sis. The two forms can be combined (see the example below). The argument subsys can take
            one of the following values: general, proc, drive, media, inventory, and tree.

            For example, to restore the root filesystem with tracing activated for all subsystems:

                 # xfsrestore -v trace -f /dev/tape /

            To enable debug-level tracing for drive and media operations:

                 # xfsrestore -v drive=debug,media=debug -f /dev/tape /

            To enable tracing for all subsystems, and debug level tracing for drive operations only:

                 # xfsrestore -v trace,drive=debug -f /dev/tape /


       -A   Do  not  restore extended file attributes.  When restoring a filesystem managed within a
            DMF environment this option should not be used. DMF stores file migration status  within
            extended  attributes  associated  with  each file. If these attributes are not preserved
            when the filesystem is restored, files that had been in migrated state will not  be  re‐
            callable by DMF. Note that dumping of extended file attributes is also optional.

       -B   Change  the ownership and permissions of the destination directory to match those of the
            root directory of the dump.

       -D   Restore DMAPI (Data Management Application Programming Interface) event settings. If the
            restored filesystem will be managed within the same DMF environment as the original dump
            it is essential that the -D option be used. Otherwise it is not usually desirable to re‐
            store these settings.

       -E   Prevents  xfsrestore  from  overwriting newer versions of files.  The inode modification
            time of the on-media file is compared to the inode modification  time  of  corresponding
            file  in the dest directory.  The file is restored only if the on-media version is newer
            than the version in the dest directory.  The inode modification time of a  file  can  be
            displayed with the ls -lc command.

       -F   Inhibit  interactive  operator  prompts.  This option inhibits xfsrestore from prompting
            the operator for verification of the selected  dump  as  the  restore  target  and  from
            prompting for any media change.

       -I   Causes  the xfsdump inventory to be displayed (no restore is performed).  Each time xfsdump is used, an online inventory in /var/lib/xfsdump/inventory  is  updated.   This  is
            used  to determine the base for incremental dumps.  It is also useful for manually iden‐
            tifying a dump session to be restored (see the -L and -S options).  Suboptions to filter
            the inventory display are described later.

       -J   Inhibits  inventory  update  when on-media session inventory encountered during restore.
            xfsrestore opportunistically updates the online inventory when it encounters an on-media
            session  inventory,  but  only if run with an effective user id of root and only if this
            option is not given.

       -K   Force xfsrestore to use dump format 2 generation numbers. Normally the need for this  is
            determined automatically, but this option is required on the first xfsrestore invocation
            in the rare case that a cumulative restore begins with a format 3 (or  newer)  dump  and
            will be followed by a format 2 dump.

       -L session_label
            Specifies  the  label  of the dump session to be restored.  The source media is searched
            for this label.  It is any arbitrary string up to 255 characters long.  The label of the
            desired dump session can be copied from the inventory display produced by the -I option.

       -O options_file
            Insert  the  options  contained  in options_file into the beginning of the command line.
            The options are specified just as they would appear if typed into the command line.   In
            addition, newline characters (\n) can be used as whitespace.  The options are placed be‐
            fore all options actually given on the command line, just after the command name.   Only
            one  -O option can be used.  Recursive use is ignored.  The destination directory cannot
            be specified in options_file.

       -Q   Force completion of an interrupted restore session.  This option  is  required  to  work
            around  one specific pathological scenario.  When restoring a dump session which was in‐
            terrupted due to an EOM condition and no online session inventory is  available,  xfsrestore  cannot  know  when the restore of that dump session is complete.  The operator is
            forced to interrupt the restore session.  In that case, if the operator tries to  subse‐
            quently  apply  a  resumed dump (using the -r option), xfsrestore refuses to do so.  The
            operator must tell xfsrestore to consider the base restore complete by using this option
            when applying the resumed dump.

       -R   Resume  a  previously interrupted restore.  xfsrestore can be interrupted at any time by
            pressing the terminal interrupt character (see stty(1)).  Use this option to resume  the
            restore.  The -a and destination options must be the same.

       -S session_id
            Specifies  the  session  UUID  of  the dump session to be restored.  The source media is
            searched for this UUID.  The UUID of the desired dump session can be copied from the in‐
            ventory display produced by the -I option.

       -T   Inhibits  interactive  dialogue  timeouts.   xfsrestore  prompts  the operator for media
            changes.  This dialogue normally times out if no response is supplied.  This option pre‐
            vents the timeout.

       -X subtree
            Specifies  a  subtree to exclude.  This is the converse of the -s option.  Any number of
            -X options are allowed.  Each subtree is specified as a pathname relative to the restore
            dest.   If  a directory is specified, the directory and all files beneath that directory
            are excluded.

       -Y io_ring_length
            Specify I/O buffer ring length.  xfsrestore uses a ring of input buffers to achieve max‐
            imum  throughput  when  restoring from tape drives.  The default ring length is 3.  How‐
            ever, this is not currently enabled on Linux yet, making this option benign.

       -    A lone - causes the standard input to be read as the source of the dump to be  restored.
            Standard  input  can be a pipe from another utility (such as xfsdump(8)) or a redirected
            file.  This option cannot be used with the -f option.  The - must follow all  other  op‐
            tions, and precede the dest specification.

       The  dumped  filesystem  is  restored into the dest directory.  There is no default; the dest
       must be specified.

NOTES
   Cumulative Restoration
       A base (level 0) dump and an ordered set of delta dumps can be sequentially restored, each on
       top  of  the  previous,  to reproduce the contents of the original filesystem at the time the
       last delta was produced.  The operator invokes xfsrestore once for each dump.  The -r  option
       must be specified.  The dest directory must be the same for all invocations.  Each invocation
       leaves a directory named xfsrestorehousekeeping in the dest directory (however,  see  the  -a
       option  above).   This directory contains the state information that must be communicated be‐
       tween invocations.  The operator must remove this directory after the last delta has been ap‐
       plied.

       xfsrestore  also generates a directory named orphanage in the dest directory.  xfsrestore re‐
       moves this directory after completing a simple restore.  However, if orphanage is not  empty,
       it  is not removed.  This can happen if files present on the dump media are not referenced by
       any of the restored directories.  The orphanage has an entry for each such file.   The  entry
       name  is the file's original inode number, a ".", and the file's generation count modulo 4096
       (only the lower 12 bits of the generation count are used).

       xfsrestore does not remove the orphanage after cumulative  restores.   Like  the  xfsrestorehousekeeping directory, the operator must remove it after applying all delta dumps.

   Media Management
       A  dump  consists of one or more media files contained on one or more media objects.  A media
       file contains all or a portion of the filesystem dump.  Large filesystems are broken up  into
       multiple  media  files to minimize the impact of media dropouts, and to accommodate media ob‐
       ject boundaries (end-of-media).

       A media object is any storage medium: a tape cartridge, a remote tape device (see rmt(8)),  a
       regular  file,  or  the  standard  input (currently other removable media drives are not sup‐
       ported).  Tape cartridges can contain multiple media files, which are typically separated  by
       (in  tape parlance) file marks.  If a dump spans multiple media objects, the restore must be‐
       gin with the media object containing the first media file dumped.  The operator  is  prompted
       when the next media object is needed.

       Media  objects  can  contain more than one dump.  The operator can select the desired dump by
       specifying the dump label (-L option), or by specifying the dump UUID (-S option).   If  nei‐
       ther  is  specified, xfsrestore scans the entire media object, prompting the operator as each
       dump session is encountered.

       The inventory display (-I option) is useful for identifying the media objects  required.   It
       is  also  useful for identifying a dump session.  The session UUID can be copied from the in‐
       ventory display to the -S option argument to unambiguously identify a dump session to be  re‐
       stored.

       Dumps  placed in regular files or the standard output do not span multiple media objects, nor
       do they contain multiple dumps.

   Inventory
       Each dump session updates an inventory database in /var/lib/xfsdump/inventory.  This database
       can be displayed by invoking xfsrestore with the -I option.  The display uses tabbed indenta‐
       tion to present the inventory hierarchically.  The first level  is  filesystem.   The  second
       level  is session.  The third level is media stream (currently only one stream is supported).
       The fourth level lists the media files sequentially composing the stream.

       The following suboptions are available to filter the display.

       -I depth=n
            (where n is 1, 2, or 3) limits the hierarchical depth of the display. When n is 1,  only
            the filesystem information from the inventory is displayed. When n is 2, only filesystem
            and session information are displayed. When n is 3, only filesystem, session and  stream
            information are displayed.

       -I level=n
            (where n is the dump level) limits the display to dumps of that particular dump level.

       The display may be restricted to media files contained in a specific media object.

       -I mobjid=value
            (where value is a media ID) specifies the media object by its media ID.

       -I mobjlabel=value
            (where value is a media label) specifies the media object by its media label.

       Similarly, the display can be restricted to a specific filesystem.

       -I mnt=mount_point
            (that is, [hostname:]pathname), identifies the filesystem by mountpoint.  Specifying the
            hostname is optional, but may be useful in a clustered environment where more  than  one
            host can be responsible for dumping a filesystem.

       -I fsid=filesystem_id
            identifies the filesystem by filesystem ID.

       -I dev=device_pathname
            (that  is, [hostname:]device_pathname) identifies the filesystem by device.  As with the
            mnt filter, specifying the hostname is optional.

       More than one of these suboptions, separated by commas, may be specified at the same time  to
       limit  the display of the inventory to those dumps of interest.  However, at most four subop‐
       tions can be specified at once: one to constrain the display hierarchy  depth,  one  to  con‐
       strain  the  dump level, one to constrain the media object, and one to constrain the filesys‐
       tem.

       For  example,  -I  depth=1,mobjlabel="tape  1",mnt=host1:/test_mnt  would  display  only  the
       filesystem  information  (depth=1) for those filesystems that were mounted on host1:/test_mnt
       at the time of the dump, and only those filesystems dumped to the media object labeled  "tape
       1".

       Dump records may be removed (pruned) from the inventory using the xfsinvutil program.

       An  additional media file is placed at the end of each dump stream.  This media file contains
       the inventory information for the current dump session.  If the  online  inventory  files  in
       /var/lib/xfsdump/inventory are missing information for the current dump session, then the in‐
       ventory information in the media file is automatically added to the  files  in  /var/lib/xfsdump/inventory.   If  you  wish  to incorporate the inventory information from the media file
       without restoring any data, you may do so using the -t option:

            # xfsrestore -t -f /dev/tape

       This is useful to rebuild the inventory database if it is ever lost or corrupted.   The  only
       caveat  is that xfsrestore needs to read through the entire dump in order to reach the inven‐
       tory media file.  This could become time consuming for dump sessions with large media files.

   Media Errors
       xfsdump is tolerant of media errors, but cannot do error correction.  If a media error occurs
       in  the body of a media file, the filesystem file represented at that point is lost.  The bad
       portion of the media is skipped, and the restoration resumes at the next filesystem file  af‐
       ter the bad portion of the media.

       If  a  media  error occurs in the beginning of the media file, the entire media file is lost.
       For this reason, large dumps are broken into a number of reasonably sized media  files.   The
       restore resumes with the next media file.

   Quotas
       When  xfsdump  dumps a filesystem with user quotas, it creates a file in the root of the dump
       called xfsdump_quotas.  xfsrestore can restore this file like any other file included in  the
       dump.   This  file  can be processed by the restore command of xfs_quota(8) to reactivate the
       quotas.  However, the xfsdump_quotas file contains information which may first require  modi‐
       fication; specifically the filesystem name and the user ids.  If you are restoring the quotas
       for the same users on the same filesystem from which the dump was taken, then no modification
       will  be  necessary.   However,  if you are restoring the dump to a different filesystem, you
       will need to:

       - ensure the new filesystem is mounted with the quota option

       - modify the xfsdump_quotas file to contain the new filesystem name

       - ensure the uids in the xfsdump_quotas file are correct

       Once the quota information has been verified, the restore command of  xfs_quota  (8)  can  be
       used to apply the quota limits to the filesystem.

       Group  and  project  quotas  are  handled  in a similar fashion and will be restored in files
       called xfsdump_quotas_group and xfsdump_quotas_proj, respectively.

EXAMPLES
       To restore the root filesystem from a locally mounted tape:

            # xfsrestore -f /dev/tape /

       To restore from a remote tape, specifying the dump session id:

            # xfsrestore -L session_1 -f otherhost:/dev/tape /new

       To restore the contents a of a dump to another subdirectory:

            # xfsrestore -f /dev/tape /newdir

       To copy the contents of a filesystem to another directory (see xfsdump(8)):

            # xfsdump -J - / | xfsrestore -J - /new


FILES
       /var/lib/xfsdump/inventory
                                dump inventory database

SEE ALSO
       rmt(8), xfsdump(8), xfsinvutil(8), xfs_quota(8), attr_set(2).

DIAGNOSTICS
       The exit code is 0 on normal completion, and non-zero if an error occurred or the restore was
       terminated by the operator.

       For  all verbosity levels greater than 0 (silent) the final line of the output shows the exit
       status of the restore. It is of the form:

            xfsdump: Restore Status: code

       Where code takes one of the following values: SUCCESS (normal completion), INTERRUPT  (inter‐
       rupted),  QUIT (media no longer usable), INCOMPLETE (restore incomplete), FAULT (software er‐
       ror), and ERROR (resource error).  Every attempt will be made to keep both the syntax and the
       semantics of this log message unchanged in future versions of xfsrestore.  However, it may be
       necessary to refine or expand the set of exit codes, or their interpretation at some point in
       the future.

BUGS
       Pathnames of restored non-directory files (relative to the dest directory) must be 1023 char‐
       acters (MAXPATHLEN) or less.  Longer pathnames are discarded and a warning message displayed.

       There is no verify option to xfsrestore.  This would allow the operator to compare a filesys‐
       tem dump to an existing filesystem, without actually doing a restore.

       The interactive commands (-i option) do not understand regular expressions.

       When  the  minimal rmt option is specified, xfsrestore applies it to all remote tape sources.
       The same blocksize (specified by the -b option) is used for all these remote drives.

       xfsrestore uses the alert program only when a media change is required.

       Cumulative mode (-r option) requires that the operator invoke xfsrestore for the base and for
       each  delta  to be applied in sequence to the base.  It would be better to allow the operator
       to identify the last delta in the sequence of interest, and  let  xfsrestore  work  backwards
       from  that delta to identify and apply the preceding deltas and base dump, all in one invoca‐
       tion.



                                                                                       xfsrestore(8)

Generated by phpMan Author: Che Dong Under GNU General Public License
2026-06-02 17:39 @216.73.216.151 CrawledBy Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
Valid XHTML 1.0 TransitionalValid CSS!

^_back to top